George landis wilson



(No Model) G. L. WILSON.

Patented May .18. 1897.

LANTERN.

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UNTTED STATES ATENT FFICE.

GEORGE LANDIS \VILSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO F CORTEZ IVILSON, OF SAME PLACE.

LANTERN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 582,838, dated May 18, 1897.

Application filed March 9, 1896. Serial No. 582,317. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Fig. 3,) is soldered or otherwise secured to Beit known thatI, GEORGE LANDIS WILSON, the center of the base. An oil-burning lanof Chicago, in the county of Cook and State tern may, however, readily be provided by of Illinois, have invented certain new and usesoldering to the base a an inverted drawnful Improvements in Lanterns, of which the metal cup a provided in its top with any following is a specification. suitable wick-holder a". Such construction My invention relates to improvements in is shown in Fig. 2, in which the oil-reservoir lanterns of that class in which a tubular glass is provided on the upper side of the base A; chimney designed to inclose and protect the but it may obviously be otherwise constructed [o taper or burner is detachably secured to the and provided, if so desired. The raised cenlantern-base by a wire bail or guard that is tral portion a of the base A conveniently connected With the base and resiliently enforms the bottom of the oil-reservoir when gages the chimney. In alantern embodying the same is provided with a separate drawn my invention such bail or guard is made of a cup at, as shown. I 5 single integral piece of spring-wire which eX- The bail or guard B in its simplest form, tends over and engages the top of the chimas shown in Fig. 1, consists of a single length ney and at its foot pivotally engages the base, of round or angular spring-wire bent at its so as to be swung into and out of line with extremities to form loops b, which hookthe chimney, and which is of such outline as through suitable apertures in the rim a of the 20 to adapt it to elastically yield sufficiently to base A. The body of the bail arches from permit the removal or insertion of the chimsaid base over the top of the chimney C and ney when force is applied for this purpose. is formed near its centerwith reversed reaches The invention consists in the matters hereor bends b, which are adapted to project into inafter set forth, and particularly pointed and embrace the edges of the chimney-top at 25 out in the appended claims, and will be fully the opposite sides thereof. Said bends b are understood from the following description of connected by the integral middle section b the constructions illustrated in the accomof the bail,which extends upwardly from said panying drawings, in which bends a considerable distance and provides Figure 1 is a perspective View of a lantern a handle that is raised above the chimney far o constructed in accordance with myinvention. enough to prevent the hand from being burned Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail of the when the lantern is held by said handle. The base thereof, showing the same as changed to side reaches 19 of the bail or guard are bent provide an oil-reservoir and burner. Figs. or bowed or otherwise made capable of resili- 3 and 4 illustrate some additional forms in ently yielding when the handle 19 and base A 3 5 which the invention may be embodied. are pulled in opposite directions, and the bail In said drawings, A designates the lanternmay thus be readily elongated sufficiently to base, B the bail or guard, and O the tubular raise the bends b above the top of the chimglass chimney. The latter may be of any ney to permit the insertion or removal of the preferred construction-such, for example, latter. o 40 as the ordinary lamp-chimney of commerce, While the construction thus described is whichis most suitable and convenient for the an important embodiment of the invention, purpose. it will be obvious that a chimney-securing The base A is herein shown as drawn from bail made of a single piece of Wire in accord a single sheet of metal with a surrounding ance with my improvements may be formed 45 rim a, which may project either above or bein a great variety of other ways. In Fig. 3, low the bottom a, and with a raised circular for example, the side reaches of the bail are or annular central portion 012, designed to fit shown as comprising two almost straight upthe lower end of the chimney and center the per and lower portions 11 and b arranged at same on the base. In its simplest form a canan angle with each other and joined by loops I00 30 dle or taper holder, which may be either a b, and it will be apparent that spiral coils or cylindric shell a or a spike or spur a (see similar bends formed in the side reaches would ailord the desired resilience in much the same manner. The lower extremities Z) of the bail in this construction are furthermore shown as simply seated in notches a of the rim to instead of being hooked through apertures therein, the spring tension of the bail serving in this case to hold the parts together when the chimney is in place. In this figure also the chimney-engaging portion of the bail is simply a straight reach or cross-bar D which is joined to the side reaches by loops N, to which a separate handle-piece Z) is attached. This construction necessitates the use of a chimney with a fluted or scalloped top between the serrations of which the bar 11 may be seated, although obviously said bar I) may be downwardly bent or curved or provided with loops which would engage and hold a plain-topped chimney. 111 the construction shown in Fig. l the bail is attached to the base in such manner as to prevent its yielding sidewise except by the springing of the wire and is provided with but a single side bar b made stiff enough to normally hold the chimney in place. Suitable loops b in this figure serve as the equivalent of the bends Z) of Fig. 1 in engaging and holding the chimney-top, and the lower part of the bail is shown as formed with a horizontal end Z1 which passes through apertures a in the bottom a of the base and extends across beneath the same. The bail is free to swing on the axis formed by its lower portion 72 and can thus be turned down parallel with the base A for packing and shipment.

The improvements thus described provide a lantern which is exceedingly cheap to construct and at the same time is serviceable and not liable to get out of order. Since ordinary lamp chimneys may be conveniently employed, the breaking of the glass for any reason *ill not materially affect the usefulness of the lantern, as said chimneys are made of standard size and may be obtained at almost every store carrying groceries or general merchandise. The same frame may also be used to accommodate chimneys of varying heights by simply bending the bail to make it shorter or longer, as desired. \Vhen the chimney is removed, the lantern-frame may be folded fiat and may thus be packed and shipped in exceedingly compact form.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a hand-lantern,\the combination, to form a unitary chimney-holding frame, of a metal base and a spring-wire bail secured to said base, bridging in one piece the top of the chimney, and bent to provide integral lateral spring and top-en gaging reaches to directly engage said chimney and hold it against the base.

2. The combination with a lantern'base and tubular chimney, of a chimney-holding bail of a single piece of wire, pivotally connected to said base and bent integrally to form a spring resiliently holding the chimney against the base, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with a lantern-base and tubular chimney, of a chimney-holding bail of a single piece of wire, pivotally connected to said base and bent integrally to form a spring between the top of the base and upper end of the chimney to resiliently hold the chimney against the base, substantially as specified.

4:. The combination with a lantern-base, of a chimney-holding bail made of a single piece of spring-wire pivoted directly to said base, insetting at a point corresponding to the top of the chimney so as to engage said top, and between the base and its chimney-engaging part being formed to yield elastically whereby it may be sprung sufiiciently to engage it with and disengage it from the chimney.

5. The combination with a lantern-base, of a chimney-holding bail made of a single piece of spring-wire pivoted at its ends directly to said base, insetting at a point corresponding to the top of the chimney to resiliently engage the same, and bent between its pivots and the chimney-engaging part to form integral spring-sections, whereby the bail is capable of being sprung sufiieiently to release the chimney.

6. The combination with a lantern-base of a chimney-holding bail arched over the position of the chimney and engaging the base at its ends, said bail being provided with inwardly-projectingbends orloops to resiliently engage the top of the chimney, and the connecting portion between the loops being extended upwardly to form a handle.

In witness that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have hereunto set my hand and seal this (3th day of March, 1800.

GEO. LANDIS \VILSON.

\Vitnesses:

ELIAS L. WILSON, IIENRY I'I. CARTER. 

